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The San Francisco 49ers signed Fred Warner to a contract extension this Wednesday. The new contract for Warner, one of the NFL's best linebackers, includes $95M million during five years with $40,5 million guaranteed, according to Adam Schefter.
It is an excellent deal for both sides. Warner quickly became one of the NFL's best linebackers as a 3rd-round pick. He's incredibly smart and can cover every kind of player on passing plays, including stronger tight ends. The 49ers have their salary cap situation under control, so they made the right move and extended Warner's contract before they had to even consider the franchise tag next year.
3 reasons why 49ers broke the bank for Fred Warner
#1 This contract will soon be a bargain
$19M average per year makes Warner the NFL's highest-paid linebacker, but his contract won't be a problem for the future. Since it's an extension, it will only start counting in 2022, when the salary cap will rise to $208 million.
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Warner's cap hit next year will be just over $8 million, and the 49ers have a healthy situation in that regard with $16,3 million available. Plus, since Jimmy Garoppolo will be gone, more than $25 million will be made available.
The 49ers did the right thing with his contract, as they won't even need to consider the franchise tag, which players usually hate. They locked one of their core pieces just like they did with George Kittle and will do with Nick Bosa.
#2 Extend Warner before Leonard, Smith, Edmunds
Timing was an important detail in this extension. Warner is now the NFL's highest-paid linebacker, but everybody knows that two important extensions are coming for the position. Darius Leonard, Roquan Smith and Tremaine Edmunds were also drafted in 2018 and their rookie contracts will soon be finished.
With the new deal, Warner has set the floor for those players as they will all look to surpass his deal and become the best paid player in the position. The 49ers saved maybe two to three million purely because they signed Warner earlier.
#3 Warner is invaluable for the defense
On the field, Warner does everything right for the 49ers. He's one of the smartest players in the NFL and his recognition of any offense is amazing.
He's also incredible in coverage, allowing just 54% of completions when he's the nearest defender to the target, lowest of any linebacker. He also had 25 run stops in 2020.
To show how much of a complete linebacker he is, Warner rushed the passer 93 times during last season and amassed 13 pressures on those plays. He's an elite player.
